BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- China is in close communication with Australia on the search for the missing MH370 plane, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Friday.

He told a daily press briefing that the China has sent several vessels to the area where possible debris was spotted and got support and cooperation from the Australian side.

Two objects possibly related to MH370 have been sighted by satellite in the remote southern Indian Ocean, Australian officials said on Thursday.

Chinese icebreaker "Xuelong," which is anchored at the Australian city of Perth, is set to head for the southern Indian Ocean on Friday evening.

It would take about four days for the icebreaker to arrive in the waters about 1,000 nautical miles from Perth.

Chinese vessel "Haixun 01" is searching for the lost Malaysian jet in waters near Christmas Island in the southern Indian Ocean.

The vessel was about 110 nautical miles west of the island at 9 a.m. Beijing time on Friday, and will sail southward to continue searching together with another vessel, "Nanhaijiu 101," a Xinhua reporter on board the ship said.

Haixun 01 dispatched a search helicopter on Friday morning and stepped up radar monitoring. Meanwhile, three naval warships are also racing to the southern Indian Ocean.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared in the early hours of March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A total of 239 people were on board, including 154 Chinese passengers.

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- China's oceanic administration on Friday set up a working group to manage icebreaker Xuelong's search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Xuelong(Snow Dragon) is set to head for the southern Indian Ocean before 6 p.m. Friday local time from the western Australian port of Fremantle, where it arrived to resupply on Friday morning. Full story

ABOARD XUELONG, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese icebreaker Xuelong is set to head for the southern Indian Ocean on Friday to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Upon arrival at the western Australian port of Fremantle for replenishment on Friday morning, the long-serving Antarctic research vessel received orders from the State Oceanic Administration of China to join the hunt. Full story

ABOARD HAIXUN 01, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese vessel "Haixun 01" is searching for the lost Malaysian jet in waters near Christmas Island in the southern Indian Ocean on Friday.

The vessel was about 110 nautical miles west of the island at 9 a.m. Beijing time, and will sail southward to continue searching together with another vessel, "Nanhaijiu 101," a Xinhua reporter on board the ship said. Full story

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- More Chinese vessels will set out for the southern Indian Ocean to search for the missing Malaysian jetliner, while the multinational search operation for suspicious debris of MH370 resumes on Friday.

Chinese rescue vessels Haixun 01 and Nanhaijiu 101 will sail off to the search area in the southern Indian Ocean, more than 3,000 km southwest off Perth, Australia, where possible MH370 debris was found on Thursday through satellite imagery. Full story

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese Air Force planes have been sent to Malaysia to help with the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Upon commands of the Central Military Commission, the aircraft, two IL-76 transport planes and a Yun-8 cargo plane, took off from south China's Sanya airport at about 8 a.m. on Friday, saidPeople's Liberation ArmyAir Force spokesman Shen Jinke. Full story

CANBERRA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), the coordinating organization in the operation of searching missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, released on Friday the timetable for five aircraft involved in the search.

AMSA said a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-3 Orion departed for the search area at around 9.15 a.m. (2215 GMT Thursday). A civil Gulfstream jet, the latest aircraft tasked by AMSA in the search operation, and a second RAAF P-3 Orion are due to depart for the search area at approximately 11 a.m. (0000GMT). Full story

CANBERRA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said on Thursday that two objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have been spotted, with the large one about 24 meters long.

"The objects are relatively indistinct. The indication to me is of objects that are of a reasonable size and probably awash with water and bobbing up and down over the surface," said AMSA official John Young.Full story

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak received a call from his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott at 10:00 am this morning, informing him that "two possible objects related to the search for" MH370 had been identified in the Southern Indian Ocean, Malaysian official said Thursday in a statement.

"The Australian High Commissioner has also briefed me on the situation," Hishammuddin Hussein, minister of defense and acting minister of transport of Malaysia, said in the statement.Full story